Clothes-line fastener.



No. 796,908. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

S. A. HALL.

CLOTHES LINE PASTENER. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII .UN STATES PATENTOFFICE.

SILAS A. HALL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

CLOTHES-LINE FASTENER.

Application file d December 13, 1904. Serial No. 236,726.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAs A. HALL, a citizen of'the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented new and-useful'lmprovements in Clothes-Line Fasteners, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to adevice for holding a rope after beingstretched, and is designed particularly for use in connection with aclothes-line to enable the line to be drawn taut and easily securedwithout the necessity of tying the line.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of aclothesline holder embodying my invention, the ends of the clothes-linebeing shown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of thesame, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section.

Referring now more particularly -to the drawings, the numeral 1indicates a block, preferably of wood, of suitable thickness and ofoblong rectangular form. This block is provided near one end withshallow transverse concave grooves 4, formed in its upper and lowersurfaces. Through'the block near each end are holes 2 and 3, throughwhich the ends of the clothes-line are adapted to be passed, the hole 3being made in the depressed portion of the block, so that its endscommunicate with or intersect the grooves 4. The sides of the block areconcaved to form vertical grooves, as shown at 5, for guidingone' end ofthe rope or line and holding it in proper position when adjusted toengage the grooves. The transverse and vertical concaved grooves of theblock intersect each other and, as shown, form a continuous un: brokenchannel around the block.

6 and 7 denote portions or sections of a rope, which may be the sectionsof the clothes-line. In practice the contiguous ends of these ropes arepassed through the respective openings 2 and 3 in the block and-knotted,and the rope 6 is then drawn until its knot8 bears against the underface ofthe block and is fastened at its opposite end to a suitablesupport. The free or unknotted end of the rope 7 is then secured to thesupport and the rope drawn to the approximate tautness desired and saidrope tightened and secured against disconnection by passing itsblock-engaging end 9 laterally of the block and seating it one-half insection of the groove 4:111 the under side of the block,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

thence extending it upward and seating it in the guide-groove 5 in oneedge of the block, and finally extending it reversely across the blockto the opposite side thereof and seating it in the upper transversegroove 4 beneath the overlying upper portion of the body of the rope, asclearly indicated in Fig. 2, leaving the free extremity 10 free to hangdown and form a grip which may be utilized for finally stretch ing therope 7 to the required tension or tautness. By this mode of connectingthe engaging end of the rope 7 with the block 1 a bight or loop 12 isformed, which encompasses the grooved portion of the block on one sideof its transverse center and which frictionally engages the Walls of thetop and bottom portions of the grooves 4 on one side of the center ofthe block and the walls of the outer connecting guide-grooves 5, and atthe same time the upper portion of the rope lying transversely over theupper surface of the block lengthwise in the upper groove 4: is heldbeneath the contiguous portion of the body of the rope and frictionallyheld thereby against the wall of the upper groove, thus securelyconnecting the rope 7, so that it cannot loosen. After the rope 7 hasbeen adjusted to the approximate degree of tautness and applied to theblock in the described manner it may be finally adjusted to the desiredtension by slacking the body portion of the rope and pulling upon thegripping portion 10, thus shifting and tightening the bight or loop 12in an obvious manner. If desired, the grip portion 10 of the rope 7 maybe knotted, as shown at 13, to afford a firmer grip and prevent slippingof the hand thereon. By disposing the opening 3 centrally of thegrooves4 the rope 7 may be adjusted to lie within the grooves on eitherside of said opening and to project from either side of the block, andby forming the transverse grooves in both sides of the block andproviding the guide-notches 5 the rope 7, when very loose, may be passedone or more times around the block and held seated in the grooves.Furthermore. by forming the grooves as described the block may bereversed when the walls of the grooves at one side of the center of theblock are worn away, so that the grooved portions on the opposite sidesof the center of the block may be employed. It will be understood thatthe bight 12 will grip the block with great force and that any increaseof tension to which the rope may be subjected will cause the rope to beheld more firmly.

Having thus described the invention, what -I claim as new is- Aclothes-line fastener comprising a rectangular-shaped block constructedof suitable material having an opening near one end thereof, the blockbeing provided near its opposite end with concave grooves which extendtransversely and continuously across the upper and lower faces of theblock, the opposite side faces of the block having vertical concavegrooves which intersect the transverse grooves said vertical groovesserving to form with the transverse grooves a surrounding channel I

